New Samsung Product Leak Proves Its Commitment To 360 Video

Samsung's updating it's much-loved 360 degree camera, the Gear 360, again for 2018, according to Korean Intellectual Property office filings discovered by LetsGoDigital. For me, the interesting thing here is that Samsung's refreshing this camera every year. Would it bother doing that if it wasn't selling?

Of course, for Samsung, VR is a huge part of its offering. All of the high-end Samsung phones get a compatible Gear VR headset that users can opt to buy. These leverage the power of the phone and the increasingly detailed screens to produce a low-cost VR experience that's surprisingly involving. So updating the Gear 360 makes a lot of sense.

The new camera appears to only tweak the design of this year's model sightly. The handle is still useful for those who want to hand-hold their 360 camera, but a pair of feet mean that it can stand on its own too, for unattended shooting.

It's hard to be sure what other improvements might lurk under the hood, but as a guide what 360 video needs is resolution, resolution and resolution. If you're looking for the most immersive experience then the number of pixels matters a great deal in 360 video. While 4K is a staggering amount on a TV or phone, when you're taking in a much larger stage the extra resolution becomes critical. The more pixels, the less space there is between each pixel and the more smooth and detailed the video you watch back is.

Resolution on these cameras is improving all the time, but until they can shoot and process 8K, and we can play that video back smoothly, at the higher frame rates VR and 360 video need, we're always going to find the experience a little flat.

Like all 360 video, the Gear 360 allows you to publish videos to YouTube, Facebook or just watch them back on your phone. You don't need a VR headset to enjoy video from the camera either, as YouTube and Facebook allow you to control the video with your mouse, or by moving the phone about.

I'm fairly excited about this new camera. Samsung's 2017 model of the Gear 360 is a stunning piece of kit. Video from it has improved detail over the original device and now 360 video is more watchable than ever. Hopefully the new device will boost that quality further, and make 360 video even more viable. For those who haven't used a VR headset, it's important to note that still photos offer a lot more detail than video, but Samsung is clearly pushing to produce a consumer product that can make video a selling point for VR.

I've been a technology writer for the last seven years for brands like CNET, The Inquirer and Pocket-lint, but I've loved technology my whole life. I've also been lucky enough to work for the BBC where I managed the Top Gear website and worked on countless other shows, inclu...